


Retrieval

by st_mick



Series: Niffler [31]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Torchwood
Genre: All will be explained, And things are a mess, JACK'S BACK, Just not yet, M/M, Magic Kisses, More time in Ianto's mind, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 13:55:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20743295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/st_mick/pseuds/st_mick
Summary: Jack's time away was good, but he's returning to a hub in lockdown and a lover that has been murdered.  Again.  First they have to find Ianto, then they have to work to break the curse that binds him, keeping him from reviving.  Jack dies (on purpose this time) in order to find Ianto and help him break the curse that has him trapped in a limbo that could send him mad.





	Retrieval

Jack was looking forward to returning to Ianto. It had been five weeks, and he missed his lover, terribly. It wasn’t just the gorgeous Welsh wizard he missed; their bond was strangely silent, with Jack being in a different time zone, and he missed its normal, vibrant presence bolstering him. When he had been on the Crucible, Jack could still feel Ianto, and he had wondered then at what distance that awareness might fade.

And it wasn’t that he did not feel Ianto along the bond, even though he was in a different century. It was just… faded. And sort of splotchy. One night Jack had been jolted from his sleep when the bond went quiet, but by morning it was back to normal, so he thought no more of it. 

It had been a good experience for Jack, to be back on his home world. The training had been enlightening, and the ceremony had moved him more than he could describe. But being away from Ianto had been difficult, and Jack was definitely ready to reunite with his beloved.

The Doctor had dropped him off at the colony, and Jack had been nervous about the timing of his return, but thankfully the Time Lord was punctual, for once. Now, as they landed back on the Plass, Jack felt a surge in the bond, followed quickly by a rush of joy that almost knocked him over. He chuckled and sent his joy and delight, in reply. Then a strange thing happened.

He felt disappointment from Ianto, and a strange sort of fading sensation.

He frowned and headed for the door of the TARDIS, and even as his steps sped up, he felt a trickle of dread as he heard Ianto’s telepathic whisper, _I love you, Jack…_ before the bond went eerily quiet.

The Doctor had landed on the invisible lift, but Jack’s vortex manipulator indicated that the hub was in lockdown. Jack ran for the tourist information center, with a confused Doctor on his heels. When he arrived there, he saw Mickey, Donna, and Toshiko dismantling different parts of the office. Mickey and Donna were working on the hidden door, and Tosh was under the desk, trying to rewire something.

“What’s happening?” Jack asked, feeling frantic.

“Ianto has locked down the hub,” Tosh answered, her nimble fingers continuing to rewire the circuitry, even as she spoke. 

“Why?”

“There is an intruder in the hub, and he has somehow infected Owen and Ron – probably some sort of curse, given events of the past few days. You know Ianto isn’t going to allow a curse to spread to the general public, so he locked down the hub.”

“How? Have his eyes healed?”

She shook her head. “He established a voice interface with Mainframe. Had her send a picture of the intruder to us. Then he disabled all of the camera feeds. Probably so he could hide more easily from Owen. Martha called Luna in, and they’re down there now, doing some reconnaissance.”

“They went down there?” Jack demanded. “Get them back up here, now!”

“Yes, because Luna answers to me, and Martha is _so_ good at following orders,” Tosh snarked.

Jack resolved to have words with his operative, at the least.

“So what’s happening?”

“We don’t know,” Tosh sighed. “Luna recognized the wizard in the hub – it’s that Lisander Wolverton guy from the Ministry that gave Ianto such a hard time.”

“He’s the one who let Theodophilus bribe him into giving up the location of the hub,” Jack said, and Tosh nodded. Ianto had explained how Wolverton had been the one who led the outcry against his use of the rifle during the Battle of Hogwarts. Because of him, Ianto had not been honored with the rest of Dumbledore’s Army for his valor, that day. 

Wolverton had also been the one to lead the Ministry in taking the stance after the Battle of Canary Wharf that the battle had been a muggle problem, and it was up to the muggles to sort out the aftermath, for themselves. One could go as far as to say that it had been his influence that had blocked Ianto from receiving any help that might have prevented the whole cyberwoman-attempting-to-take-over-the-hub-and-then-the-world fiasco.

There had been a disturbing series of political machinations that made it appear that Wolverton had it in for Ianto. The last straw had been the deliberate (and illegal) act of disclosing the location of the hub. Torchwood may not have been a secret within the wizarding world, but its location still was. Tellingly, the man had disappeared before he could be questioned on the matter.

Jack had pressed Kingsley Shacklebolt to try harder to find the missing Wolverton – he’d had a bad feeling from the moment he heard how the man had maneuvered the Ministry against Ianto from the time the younger man was a teenager. Now he held his anger in check as he waited for Toshiko to tell him the rest.

She gave up on her rewiring and stood. Reluctantly, she told Jack about Gwen’s attack on Ianto, the previous morning. At his insistence, she pulled up the footage, though at her insistence he and the Doctor used headphones as they watched.

When the playback ended, Jack looked up from the laptop, his face pale. “She killed him?” he asked weakly. Now he understood what had awakened him, that night. He silently cursed himself for not checking in, to be sure all was well.

Toshiko nodded. “She’s at St. Mungo’s, now. Still unconscious, but expected to make a full recovery. They don’t know if she’ll have any memory of what she did, though.” She reached out and touched his hand. “By all accounts, it was a very nasty bit of dark magic. The curse-breaker told us that it would have been impossible to overcome the impulses it inspired.”

“Just as the TARDIS landed, I…” Jack ran a hand over his face. “I felt him die again. We need to get in there.”

“Jack,” Tosh grabbed his forearm. “We will, but let’s see what Luna and Martha have found. They are due to check in. I gave them ten minutes before we find our own way in after them.”

***

Martha stumbled a bit before gaining her feet as she and Luna apparated into the hub. Luna was on the lookout, but clearly no one was in the upper levels. They carefully made their way down the steps, where they saw Owen staring into the cell at Janet, who was growling back at him.

Luna sent a stunning spell his way, then tied him up and levitated him into a cell that Martha opened for him. Just as they were locking it, Ron apparated into the corridor. “He didn’t go back into the archives. Where else should we…”

He didn’t finish his sentence. Luna stunned and bound him, then set him in the cell next to Owen. Once they locked the door, they made their way towards the archive corridor. “You should have brought Tosh,” Martha said, her gun swinging from corner to corner. “She knows the hub better than I do.”

“But she needs to override the lockdown,” Luna pointed out. “Oh…”

In the intersection of corridors, they saw a body lying on the floor. Luna was relieved that it was wearing robes, rather than Ianto’s pyjamas. She nudged aside the bloody dagger lying beside his body with her foot, realizing that it was no longer cursed and dreading what that meant. 

They turned the man over, and realized that he was their intruder. “This is Wolverton,” Luna muttered. “Was, at any rate.” She looked more closely. “He’s wearing a charm to keep anyone with the sight from seeing his past,” she said, feeling a bit offended. “People only do that when they have something to hide.”

“Well, he was on the run,” Martha reasoned.

“No, this pendant. I remember it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him, without it. But it’s definitely charmed.”

“He clearly had secrets, if dark magic and attempted murder are anything to go by.”

“Yes. Whatever he’s been hiding, he’s been doing it for years.” She double-checked, making sure Wolverton had no pulse. “Oh, Ianto,” she said sadly, knowing what it cost her friend to use an unforgiveable curse. Feeling a prickle of power still lingering from the spell, she looked around. “This corridor, does it feel strange, to you?”

“It’s cold,” Martha replied, looking around. “And… I don’t think it was always quite this _shape_,” she said, her eyes going wide. They were in a sort of vestibule that led off in several directions. Straight ahead went down to the lower levels; left led to the cells, right to the archives. Behind them led to the stairs up into the main part of the hub. The area they were in was now sort of… concave, as though it had been rounded out by a giant melon-baller.

“No,” Luna said, her eyes going unfocused. “Ianto couldn’t find his magic, when Gwen attacked him, yesterday. Here, he realized that Wolverton was going to kill Owen and Ron, and he forced it out. But his magic is so strong, what came out with the spell was more than was needed, to stop Wolverton.

Martha looked around, and saw what appeared to be a lump of flesh. “What on earth?” she took a closer look, then recoiled. “Oh, my God. What…” She caught herself, then stepped forward, looking more closely.

Luna looked over, then sighed. “He must have splinched when he disapparated. Can you tell…”

“Brachioradialis,” Martha said, feeling tears forming. “Forearm.”

Luna nodded. “We should report back,” she said, standing and taking Martha’s arm. We’ll need help finding him.”

“Can’t you do a spell?” Martha asked.

Luna looked at her, tears in her own eyes. “I tried. Either he’s not in the hub, or he’s…”

“But you lot keep talking about how amazing it was, that he apparated all the way to beyond the moon. Couldn’t he have gone further than he intended, the same way…” she waved her hand to indicate the new, rounded shape of the space they were standing in.

“I think he used most of what he was able to find, killing Wolverton. He likely splinched because there wasn’t enough left for a proper apparition.” Luna brushed a tear away. “No, he’s close, I think.”

Martha gave her hand a squeeze, and they apparated to the tourist office, where they reported to the others, relieved that Jack and the Doctor had arrived.

Luna used her galleon to summon Draco, Bill, Hermione, and Harry. By the time they appeared, the Doctor had helped Jack and Tosh to override the lockdown. Luna quickly explained what had happened, and they headed back into the hub to search for Ianto.

Draco helped Martha to take Wolverton’s body to the med-bay. It would be a matter of debate between Jack and Kingsley as to who would claim the body for interment. Martha vaguely wondered if Jack would simply invoke the finders-keepers rule that possession is nine-tenths, and all that. But then she saw him as he hovered over Tosh’s shoulder and wondered if he would even care. The first priority needed to be finding Ianto.

“Heat signatures?” he asked Tosh, pointing out that since they knew roughly what time Ianto had died, they should be able to find him, even if his body had cooled, a bit.

“I’ve checked, already,” Tosh answered, feeling frazzled. The only signatures anywhere in the hub besides here are in the cells. I’ve got Ron and Owen, and then two weevils.

“Wait, what did you just say?” Mickey asked.

“Four heat signatures in the cells,” Tosh repeated, almost in tears. “That’s all.”

“Ron, Owen, and… you said _two_ weevils.”

Jack turned to Mickey. “What?”

“Janet’s the only weevil currently in the cells.” Mickey barely got it out before Jack was racing past him.

When they reached the cells, they cautiously opened the door to Janet’s area. Ianto had widened it and kept it clean with fresh straw, so the blood was easily spotted. Jack looked at Janet, who was standing next to the area where she normally slept, growling menacingly.

“We’re here to help him,” Jack said, looking earnestly at her and holding his arms out to the sides of his body.

“I could stun it,” Harry offered, but Luna hissed at him.

“Look behind her, Harry. She hid him. She’s trying to decide whether we will hurt him more, or if we’re really here to help. She’s not a threat.” She stepped forward, tucking her wand behind her ear and holding her arms out. “Please,” she spoke to Janet. “We’ll take good care of him. And he’ll be so grateful to you, for keeping him safe.”

Janet gave a huff and moved to the wall opposite the one where Ianto was hidden, beneath the straw of her bedding. Jack and Luna moved slowly towards the wall, and pulled back the straw to uncover Ianto.

Luna gasped, and Jack let out a sob, at the sight of the wizard. He had torn his pyjamas to wrap around his injuries, attempting to slow the bleeding. Even so, he was covered in blood and unnaturally pale, with horrible bruising around his neck. Jack reached out and caressed Ianto’s cheek before giving himself a shake and gathering his lover into his arms.

As he straightened, he looked at Janet. “Thank you,” he nodded. She reached out and touched the top of Ianto’s head, letting out a grunt. 

“Fascinating,” the Doctor remarked, watching the exchange.

“Harry, can you help Mickey clean out Janet’s cell and lay down fresh straw? Her bed is covered in blood.” He held Ianto closer and began walking from the cell. “Also, Mickey, I think Janet deserves her favorite meal, tonight, with extra treats.”

Mickey nodded. “I’ll see to it,” he promised.

When they got to the med-bay, Hermione quickly moved Wolverton’s body into one of the holding lockers and conjured a mattress. Bill and Draco began reciting incantations while Martha and Jack used saline to separate the fabric from Ianto’s skin where dried blood was making it stick. Jack tried not to sob again when he saw the bruises from Gwen’s assault.

Draco swiftly cleaned Ianto up as they covered him with a blanket to the waist. “I’ll get some Dittany for the splinch,” he said, examining Ianto’s forearm closely. “Have it ready for when he wakes.” He gently wrapped the arm to protect it, then looked at the stab wounds. Black veining spreading from the injuries across Ianto’s abdomen and up his torso showed that Wolverton had indeed stabbed him with a cursed dagger.

Bill lowered his wand, his face pale. “He’s not meant to wake,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“What?” Jack looked at him, wild-eyed.

The Doctor began sonicking Ianto’s body, frowning.

“The curse. It’s preventing him from reviving,” Bill said, standing firm against the onslaught of Jack’s grief and panic. “The only way to break the curse is for him to revive, which the curse is preventing him from doing.”

Jack looked to the Doctor, his eyes begging for an alternative. “There may be a way,” the Time Lord said quietly. He looked to Bill. “It’s like the curse has established a layer between the limbo in which Ianto is trapped, and here. If we can dive below that layer, is there a counter-curse that can free him enough to break through?”

“Maybe,” Bill looked thoughtful, for a moment.

“What are you thinking?” Jack asked. “For us to burrow down, that will take me dying, but then we’ll need to get me to where he is.”

“I can help with that,” the Doctor said. He went to the head of the table and cradled Ianto’s head in his hands. Closing his eyes, he looked suddenly ill, but he nodded. “Yes. I can feel him beating against the barrier, metaphorically speaking.” He sighed. “How to explain? He’s dead, but the vortex is trying to lift him back to consciousness. But there’s this barrier. We need to poke a hole in it.”

“Tell me what you need,” Jack said, beginning to disrobe. Draco expanded the bed, realizing what Jack intended.

“We have to be very careful about this,” the Doctor said. “Your death must be gentle, so you can keep hold of the conscious thought of finding Ianto. I can guide you to your bond, but you’ll have to find him and then help him find a way past the curse.”

“You can’t be serious,” Martha began.

“The _avada kedavra _curse is the easiest way to go,” Jack said, thinking hard about the gentlest of his deaths. “Unless there’s a poison that’s painless.” He hadn’t experienced one of those, as yet.

“Jack, you are asking one of these people to kill you,” Martha protested.

“No, I’m asking one of them to help me save Ianto,” Jack replied hotly. “But I understand if they don’t want to, so I’m asking you what kind of poison might be an option.”

“There is a poison, but I… I’m not sure where to get that sort of thing, anymore,” Draco confessed softly.

Harry reached out and patted him on the shoulder, reminding him that all had been forgiven, long ago. Draco’s own remorse had gone a long way to allowing for that forgiveness, as well as Ianto’s example. After all, if their Niffler believed Draco had changed, who were they to question it?

“I’ll do it,” Luna squared her shoulders. “I have the impression that time is of the essence, yes?”

“He will go mad if left there too long,” the Doctor replied.

“Luna,” Jack reached out and hugged her, holding on to her as she clung to him and let out a sob. He steadied her and held her at arm’s length, ducking his head to look her in the eye. “This is for Ianto, yes?” At her nod, he continued. “And this will cause me the least amount of pain, right?” Another nod. “Hey,” he lifted her chin. “You don’t have to do this, you know.”

“But I do,” she replied. She sniffed and looked at Jack. “You’ll save my Niffler, yes?”

Jack hugged her again. “Yes.”

Bill wrote down an incantation for Ianto use, to weaken the spell that had him trapped. Jack read it over until he had it memorized, then set it aside. He looked around. “The only problem with the curse Luna will be using is that I come back from it, very quickly. Someone’s going to have to keep that from happening.”

“What do you mean?” Martha was still against this plan, but she could see there was no other alternative, and she knew that Jack was not going to let Ianto stay dead, or go mad.

Jack rummaged through one of Owen’s desk drawers and shuddered when he brought out the hunting knife that Gray had used to kill him. “Through the heart. Don’t pull it out until Ianto is back. It will keep me from reviving.”

There was another round of shouting and protests before Mickey quietly took the knife. Jack hugged him, thanking him.

Jack took one last look at the incantation, then nodded to the Doctor. He had lowered his braces and taken off his shirt earlier; now he took off his vest, as well. He leaned over to Ianto and kissed his cheek. “See you in a few,” he whispered. Then he sat on the bed, and Luna stood at the foot, facing him. The others moved out of her line of fire.

She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, Jack saw a look that he never wanted to see in her eyes, ever again. It was cold and hard, and her voice was the same as it had been that night that she had used the _cruciatus_ curse on Gray. “_Avada Kedavra_!”

The Doctor caught Jack as he fell back onto the bed. Luna turned away and Draco gathered her into his arms as she wept. Mickey stepped forward and without stopping to think about what he was about to do, he plunged the knife into Jack’s heart. He hurried around the table to the stairs, intending to escape, but Toshiko caught him in her arms, for once standing at his height as she stood on a higher step, and they stood there as he quietly cried onto her shoulder.

The Doctor felt Jack’s presence and guided it along the bond – the only thing left of the two men that was still alive. Once Jack was traveling along the bond, the Doctor stepped to Ianto and cradled the young wizard’s head, once more. All he could do now was observe. The curse felt disgusting, and the Doctor could only form impressions, but he had a vague idea of what was going on.

Jack pushed his way through the castle door and stepped into a landscape that was dull and gray. There was no color, anywhere to be seen. The sky was an oily morass that he could tell was the curse’s taint.

Somehow, Jack knew where to go. He soon found himself in the Forbidden Forest, in the clearing where Ianto had been tortured by Bellatrix LeStrange. There, kneeling on the ground and bound with heavy chains, was Ianto, gasping from the strain of fighting his bonds.

“Ianto!”

Ianto raised his head and looked around. “Jack?”

“Let’s get you out of these,” Jack said, looking at the chains to determine the best way of freeing Ianto.

“I can’t feel... The curse is keeping me from my magic, and from the vortex,” Ianto confessed.

Jack kissed him, and for a moment, the world around them brightened. “Can you use me to find it?” he asked, looking around as everything slowly faded back to grey.

Ianto was looking intently at Jack. “You killed yourself, didn’t you?”

Jack did not want to answer that question. He knew it would outrage Ianto. “Can we argue when we get home? There’s not much time.”

Ianto gave a curt nod. “Jack,” he smiled. “I missed you.”

Jack gave him a grin and another kiss. “I missed you too, Kitten.”

The world seemed to grow a bit brighter around them. “I can feel your magic, Jack.” Ianto smiled gently. “And your vortex. What’s the plan?”

“Bill gave me this incantation,” Jack carefully pronounced it for Ianto, who nodded his recognition of the spell. “He said it might poke a hole in the curse long enough for you to break through its barrier.”

“Don’t tell me; the only way to break the curse is to revive, which the curse was created to prevent.”

“You got it in one,” Jack said. He picked one of the padlocks and unwrapped the heavy chains. He did this several times, until he could at least see parts of Ianto under the chains. “I think the best way to go is through the door, and through our bond. Maybe we can fool the curse until we get to the door if we keep some of these chains on you?”

“You just want to tie me up,” Ianto grinned, leaning forward for another kiss.

Jack laughed and helped Ianto to his feet. Despite there being only one set of chains left, they dragged on Ianto, making their progress quite slow. Jack began to worry as Ianto started talking nonsense. Something about this being the sort of thing that happened, when Jack left, and how Harkness rhymed with darkness, but in a good way. Each time Ianto said something bizarre, Jack stopped and kissed him again, which seemed to buy them a bit more time.

They finally reached the castle, and as they climbed the steps, Ianto seemed to lose the ability to move, of his own volition. 

“You all right?” Jack asked, hauling Ianto before the door.

Ianto nodded, but he was struggling. “Hurts,” he gritted.

Jack pulled Ianto into his arms and kissed him, slowly and thoroughly. He felt the sun come out, and then felt Ianto sigh against him. _When I pull off the last of the chains, you do the incantation, and we’ll jump through the door. Okay?_

Ianto nodded, but he wasn’t ready to stop kissing Jack, just yet. After all, he knew exactly how much pain awaited, when he revived. Who knew how long it would be before he could enjoy Jack this much, again?

After a few moments, Jack pulled away, chuckling. He released Ianto from the last set of chains, and Ianto began reciting the incantation as they fell away. Jack pushed the door open and took Ianto’s hand, only to feel Ianto being pulled away from him.

Jack took Ianto into his arms and kissed him again, and as they kissed, Ianto tapped into all of the magic that he could. It was everywhere, but the curse was blocking him from it. But through Jack, he could access it all. He grasped Jack by the back of the head and kissed him deeply, gathering all of the magic he could touch.

It was a lot of magic, and when he and Jack stumbled through the door, still kissing, he realized he might have overdone it, just a bit…

***

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for sticking with me! One more segment to go! I know, I know, I always say that, but this time, it's pretty much written, so I know it's only one more. :D  
Then on to the prequel, which starts with the aftermath of the "Cyberwoman" storyline, so hope you guys like angst.  
Hope you enjoy - thanks for reading!


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